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Subramani (Farmer)     16 September 2025

Does sale for guideline value acceptable in revenue recovery act?

Mrs. Leela, a widow, aged 70 years and residing in Tamil Nadu, has pending arrears under the Tamil Nadu Revenue Recovery Act, which originated from a tax demand raised in 2020. 1. Since she has no movable or immovable property in the district of her residence, recovery could not be effected so far. 2. Recently, she inherited a small portion of agricultural land situated in another district. 3. She now intends to sell this inherited land at the guideline value to a third party and pay the entire sale consideration directly to the government treasury toward her arrears account. The proposed sale proceeds will only partially satisfy the outstanding arrears. In this context, she seeks clarity on the following points: Is such a sale of the inherited land valid in law, considering that: - No demand notice has been served on the said property where it is located, and - No attachment proceedings have been initiated against it 1. If she sells the property at the guideline value (which is lower than the market value), can the sale deed later be questioned or cancelled by the authorities on the ground that the market value was higher? 2. Can she lawfully mention in the sale deed that the consideration is being used to pay arrears under the Revenue Recovery proceedings, and would this protect the transaction from future challenges? The entire sale amount i.e., the guideline value amount will be received as demand draft and deposited for the pending arrears. She is aware that she is still liable for the balance amount after the partial payment. Please help out sirs and madam.


 5 Replies

P. Venu (Advocate)     16 September 2025

The problems posed are merely hypothetical. 

kavksatyanarayana (subregistrar/supdt.(retired))     16 September 2025

Are these facts correct?

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate)     17 September 2025

If she inherits any property then she will become the owner of that property, thereby she has full rights to dispose the property in the manner she may desire.

If she wants to pay the entire sale consideration amount to government at least to cover partial arrears of tax amount, nothing will stop her from going ahead with her decision.

There is no legal issue involved in your question.

 

Subramani (Farmer)     17 September 2025

Originally posted by : T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate
If she inherits any property then she will become the owner of that property, thereby she has full rights to dispose the property in the manner she may desire.
If she wants to pay the entire sale consideration amount to government at least to cover partial arrears of tax amount, nothing will stop her from going ahead with her decision.
There is no legal issue involved in your question.
 

Thank you sir.

The legal question is, if there will be any issues in the future.

Section 16  Penalty for franduluent conveyance of property to prevent distress 
Where a defaulter may make a fraudulent conveyance of property to prevent the distress for arrears, any Civil Court of competent jurisdiction, upon proof thereof, shall summarily cause the property to be delivered up to the distrainer. The defaulter will further be liable to the penalties prescribed by section 424 of the Indian Penal Code. 

If she sells the property at the guideline value and pays the entire sale amount to the treasury, could the authorities later treat it as a fraudulent conveyance since the market value is higher?

Dr. J C Vashista (Advocate )     18 September 2025

It is better to show relevant records to a local prudent lawyer for proper appreciation of facts, professional advise and necessary proceeding.


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